42 
CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
they become entrapped in the great pasture of sea-weed, and 
while thus locked within its embrace, being exposed to the 
warm rays of the sun, are soon incubated. The mother ends 
her earthly existence in the process, paying the supreme pen¬ 
alty as a duty to her posterity. No sooner than the little ones 
have seen the light of day they proceed immediately to the 
waters their parents knew, and the whole process is repeated. 
Thus have men in all ages spied upon nature’s creatures, 
never permitting them to have a secret all their own, if within 
their power to wrest it from them. The greater the mystery 
surrounding their lives the harder men try to solve it. Little 
wonder that the eel clung to her secret for so long. Even an¬ 
cient mariners purposely surrounded this great void, lest their 
craft become hopelessly entangled and all perish. 
It was for neither wealth or fame that this old master 
(without degree) went in for a better knowledge of the dia¬ 
mond-back. He seeks no publicity, but on the contrary is ex¬ 
ceptionally modest, forever shrinking from the crowd rather 
than being drawn into it. Aside from the attacks made upon 
members of his own family he has been witness to the mental 
anguish they have visited upon others. If it so happened that 
a bear, or some large member of the feline family, should 
pounce upon some luckless human being down in the river 
swamp and tear them limb from limb, the community would 
be so stimulated into action that a great posse would be 
formed, scouring the entire region until the offender was 
brought to justice. When some innocent child has met with 
the same fate at the hands of this outlaw of the animal king¬ 
dom—the diamond-back—neighbors and friends speak words 
of condolence to the bereaved ones. When the last sad rites 
have been performed they will, in hushed tones, talk at length 
in terms of what the county, state, or Federal Government 
ought to do about it—someone ought to do something, they 
insist, but when asked to join in a campaign of extermination, 
they disperse—one returning to the plow, another to his mer¬ 
chandise, and a third to his office. Their dread of these crea¬ 
tures is such that it chills their very blood as they look upon 
one. In just such an atmosphere was his high resolves born—a 
